Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Community Edition, a fan-made project breathing new life into Arkane's 2006 action RPG, has revealed extensive details regarding its planned additions, including co-operative multiplayer. The mod, which has received the blessing of both Valve and original publisher Ubisoft, aims to significantly enhance the original game by upgrading it to a contemporary version of the Source engine.
This engine upgrade facilitates native 64-bit support for both Linux and Windows, alongside quality-of-life improvements such as controller support and achievements. The most significant addition is the implementation of co-op multiplayer, utilizing Steamworks for peer-to-peer connections and hosting. The original game's player-versus-player mode has also been revamped, with the Community Edition promising a unified experience where single-player content is accessible in multiplayer and vice versa.
The Community Edition is set to incorporate many popular Dark Messiah mods that have been developed over the years. These include a New Game+ mode, an Adventure Mode featuring bonus levels and challenges, the addition of sliding as a player movement mechanic, and new spells, weapons, and transformations. The project seeks to consolidate nearly two decades of community modding efforts into a single, rebuilt package.
Further extending the 'community' aspect, the project will provide tools for external modders to create custom elements, maps, and quests. Full Steam Workshop integration is also planned, allowing for seamless community contribution. While not explicitly stated on the current Steam page, the development team, wiltOS Technologies, had previously expressed intentions to develop an RTX mod. Given the current progress and the inclusion of co-op, a ray-tracing enhancement may still be a possibility. The Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Community Edition is currently slated for a 2026 release.